"Speaking at the White House, the president said he had ordered Interior Secretary Ken Salazar "to conduct a thorough review of this incident and report back to me in 30 days on what, if any, additional precautions and technologies should be required to prevent accidents like this from happening again.""We're going to make sure that any leases going forward have those safeguards," he said."

However I don't think throwing more money at alternative energy is the answer either .

Consider;That we already have research in Algae fuels and Hydrogen extracted from water - so throwing more money at it does NOT necessarily make the scientist work any faster , it just makes them richer . What is needed is a stumbling mistake like how most great inventions are discovered .

Anyway , in the mean time Oil is all we got , so Drill Baby Drill , until another alternative is developed

As for the oil rig , I have not done any research on its age or what tech level it was at before this incident . However New Rigs that are built today are much much more high tech then ones built from just 10 years ago .

More Regulations = Like throwing more money at Research ? equals what net value ?

I am not in the oil industry , however in the construction industry I can say that the one thing that is above all else is to avoid any and all incidents or accidents of any kind . All it takes is just one and the gig is up . Regulations are not going to make it any safer at all , just adds more Red Tape .

I have not heard anything about what cause the explosion ? and I don't think they hire anyone who smokes either

You can't get off the oil unless you develop alternatives.. it doesn't happen spontaneously.

and it's not just for us .. we can sell the technology! . . more economic benefits.

and regulations are necessary... wonder why we have so few plane crashes ? regulations and procedures...

before regulations, accidents like the WVa mine disaster was a regular thing... now it happens much, much less frequent. I agree some are red tape, but most DO serve a useful purpose. .. . many save lives.

I think some country other then the US will make the next alternative first , not because of money but rather necessity.

they already have Steve, Brazil is totally off oil... they started when we should have- the 70's !!

can you beat that a 2nd rate country economically and they beat us ! What does that say about us ? There's lots to point fingers at including the American people for not being prudent and facing the changes... many were lazy... set in their big gas guzzling ways. But I think a huge chunk goes to Reagan and Bush 1 who killed the energy programs started under Carter... Carter saw the future... and our unwise dependency on oil but people like the Bushes who sleep with Saudi Kings wouldn't have that.

I seriously doubt any regulations would have stopped alternative fuel research, solar, wind, or geothermal research... that's just a lousy excuse by some.

Take away regulations and see how regular mine, oil rig, air plane, etc disasters become... weekly occurrences instead of every 5 -10 years... too many businessmen will cut corners and risk lives to make an extra dime !!

Most regulations come from disasters because of the above ... trying to avoid repeats.Read Sinclair's The Jungle... sure fiction but based on facts of how companies were run in the early 1900s. No regulations we return to that BS.My sister and brother worked for Iowa Beef in the 1970s and still many accidents because of production quotas. Most of them not hugely serious but with no regs, instead of cuts needing stitches, it could have been lives.

We have it too good Steve, we never had to live through that crap... and 48 hr weeks, slave like labor, and barely enough salary to live on (food shelter, clothes).. workmen fought (some died) so we could have it better.. don't ever forget we benefit greatly from their sacrifices.

I seriously doubt any regulations would have stopped alternative fuel research, solar, wind, or geothermal research...

No in this case;Means a regulation on how you spend the money and how safe are your experiments - which is a good thing to keep it safe but also adds cost .

Over regulating the Oil Industry would not have prevented this latest explosion at all - but certainly would create more (red tape) expense thats past down to consumers .

Sure we can Regulate that a person wears a additional Hard Hat over the one that they are already wearing - but what good is that <-- I am saying this as more regulations .

Keep in mind that;1 - State regulations 2 - Federal Regulations3 - Coast Guard Regulations <-- since the rig is off shore4 - BP own company Regulations - which should match or exceed everyone else's - to even get a permit to even drill off shore .

HeyShiiiit happens no matter how tight you sew ya arse - throwing more regulations mean nothing but more expenses that is past down

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